And gasoline is just so last year…
You may wish to consider the Nissan ESFLOW concept. Another vehicle from Nissan designed as an electric vehicle (EV) from the ground up.
Set to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March, Nissan unexpectedly announces their two-seat, EV sports car with zero to sixty in (less than) five performance, futuristic styling and a fifty percent increase in range over the family hatch Nissan LEAF. While no production vehicle is planned based on the ESFLOW (yet), you can be sure that much of what you see in this vehicle will make its way to Nissan’s (or Infiniti’s) high performance EV. So let’s take a closer look.
Rear-wheel drive with one motor driving each wheel. Tricky technology, else you’ll be doing donuts down the road. The payoff is improved packaging along with precise battery placement. Said batteries are to reside in an aluminum chassis, and contribute to the strength of the vehicle, not just add weight to be carried around.
Shades of 370Z styling in the roof line and side glass will have many calling this an electric 370Z, just as many are mislabeling the LEAF as an electric Versa. Such is not the case. This EV, likely designed behind those black double doors at the Nissan Design Center we saw at the San Diego LEAF delivery, is pure concept. If the aluminum chassis isn’t enough to give that away, what about the composite body? The likelyhood of these two components making their way to a production vehicle is nil, but it is nice to dream, isn’t it?
Looking at the vehicle from the side one has to say that this is likely the least overhang seen on anything with wheels (even including the original Mini). (Overhang is the distance from the center of the wheel to the bumper. You will note very little of anything ahead of the front wheel, or behind the rear). Stability and handling should provide plenty of driving fun as batteries sitting centered and low, with two small rear motors spinning the wheels should provide ESFLOW with an outstanding platform to perform its dance. Here’s a little 56 second (animated) teaser video.